Christian Thomas added 16 points for the Ramblers (7-3), who have won five of their last six games and equaled their win total from last season. Loyola put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run to close the first half and take a 34-20 lead.

Fred Thomas had 14 points for Mississippi State (3-6), which shot just 37.5 percent from the field.

The game marked the first meeting between the teams since they played a historic game in the 1963 NCAA tournament that helped change race relations on the basketball court. The all-white Bulldogs had to sneak out of Mississippi to avoid an injunction in order to play Loyola, which had four African-American starters, in the NCAA Regional in East Lansing, Mich.